Nearly a month long break and Formula 1 was finally back into action at one of circuits that is loved by both the fans and the drivers. The circuit being a fan favorite promised plenty of excitement in the race and it did happen, Button dominated the race while Vettel stole the show, Kimi did all he could but could manage only third, While the major highlight was a crash in the first lap, Not Just a crash!

The Pile-up, The Crash and the consequences!

Well, out of all teams that took part in the Belgium GP, Sauber as a Team were on a high after a solid performance on Saturday. For them, it was important to have a good qualifying as they normally tend to have a better race pace with less tyre wear and for the first time this season they qualified at the front and possibly ensuring that they are one of the contenders for that top step of the podium. They must have gone onto the race with high hopes.

The race started quite early for Maldonado and according to him, The clutch slipped out of his hands and having made a jump start from row 3 on the grid, it affected quite a few people as they were very much distracted. Grosjean despite being distracted by Maldonado seemed to have a good start but made a contact with Hamilton with the huge pile up into the first corner, the crash was inevitable. The other casualties of the accident were Perez and Alonso. We have seen enough of this incident already, but what followed that was something unexpected. Ferrari went onto make a statement saying that some kind of disciplinary action have to be taken at the feeder series itself and they will have to obey some kind of driving standard from their early days.

“As for the accident, I can only say that the judgment falls to the FIA: what is certain is that, it would be better if, starting with the junior formulae, rules relating to on-track behavior were enforced in an inflexible manner, so as to have drivers as well prepared as possible when they reach this, the highest level of motor sport” - Stefano Domenicali

The stewards later issued a one race suspension for Grosjean:

“The stewards regard this incident as an extremely serious breach of the regulations which had the potential to cause injury to others. It eliminated leading championship contenders from the race. The stewards note the team conceded the action of the driver was an extremely serious mistake and an error of judgement. Neither the team nor the driver made any submission in mitigation of penalty.” - Stewards Judgement

Well, although the majority of the F1 universe were surprised at the judgement because of the stewards statement mentioned that the crash eliminated the leading championship contenders from the race, One way of looking at the judgement is that the FIA were harsh on Grosjean for eliminating the championship contenders thus creating a new discrimination among the drivers. And thats how most of the people have looked at it. But the other way of looking at the judegment is the fact that they stated that it had eliminated the championship contenders and they have expressed it as a state of shock and surprise. Although it’s entitled to one’s opinion and much of it can be debated, We have to wonder whether the Stewards being highly respected and being in such an authoritative position in one of the widely watched sport of the planet, Will they make a discriminate statement as such? We hope not.

Meanwhile Eric Boullier has stated that despite the ban, Grosjean would get full support from the team while the likely replacement would be announced a bit later.

“It’s been a tough day for the team but we fully respect the Stewards’ decision, Romain won’t be driving at Monza but he still has our full support. We’ll announce the name of his replacement a bit later in the week." - Eric Boullier

Well, When we have a blend of drivers both aggressive and defensive, these sorts of errors do occur. Although the 2012 season, we had Maldonado and his constant visits to the stewards cause of the many crashes he is involved in and even in this race, he collided with Glock and earlier had a jump start resulting in double five grid place penalty for Monza. Kobayashi who was unlucky today was also sometimes criticized for his actions during his career. It doesn’t mean the current generation drivers are the only ones who are aggressive, We have seen drivers who drove those meanest of machines during the various stages of Formula 1 Championship and they showed their class by re-defining formula 1 again and again. May be we have to agree with Stefano Domenicali regarding the driving standards of feeder series, that should be the only way out because those who graduated from the feeder series in the recent times have shown tremendous potential but have to really tone down their aggression and that will fetch them more glory. There is nothing more exciting than those aggressive maneuvers but then it’s high time we redefine the word aggressive as such. Grosjean as stated by Eric Boullier is involved in those 7 accidents earlier in the season which is different from responsible for those 7 accidents. But in a time like this when we talk of judgements, aggression and discrimination which were the order of the day, Would the same judgement have been served if the causalities were different and would the judgement have been made if some other driver was responsible for this act?

Alonso who seemed to suffered much of the damage complained of issues with his shoulder and Hamilton was a bit curious on what transpired as soon as he got out of his car and went onto argue with Grosjean. This is how they reacted post the event.

“I’m fine, except my left shoulder hurts a bit: I went to the medical centre immediately after the accident but everything is alright, the pain only comes from the whiplash. I had no idea what happened. I am not angry with Grosjean, he definitely didn’t do it on purpose: it was a case of me being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Rather, I think that certain drivers should try and take fewer risks at the start.” - Fernando Alonso

“It’s been a difficult day for me - my race was so short that I didn’t even break a sweat out there. I don’t really want to talk about the start - I think everyone saw what happened - it’s just a shame. This wasn’t a great day for my world championship hopes either, but I certainly won’t be giving up.” - Lewis Hamilton

Not trying to favor Alonso but it’s been such of a deal for him in his Ferrari days especially to see him more of a controlled character. Is this is the same person who we can say was a bit more aggressive in his Renault days? He has certainly shown more maturity in recent times.

“It’s {Risks taken at the start of a race} a bit of a tendency currently in the junior formulae, but it would be better, if right from the start of their career, they got used to respecting more strictly the rules relating to behaviour on track.”

Button and Kimi should be s**it scared. They sandwich two mad drivers (kobayashi and Maldonaldo) :D #f1#belgiangp

Tweets like that actually started flowing in post the qualifying session, many fans across the globe were almost expecting something from either of Kobayashi or Maldonado at the start and this is not a good trend for Formula 1 especially considering the fact that there are plenty of good drivers who are currently without a seat due to the lack of funds. The upcoming tracks especially Monza have high tendencies of pile up and crashes are almost inevitable. Hopefully all the drivers learn to control the aggression at the start and give the fans more exciting races.

Wasn't a Happy Sunday!

Saubers took part in the race:“It is very disappointing that once again factors beyond our control have ruined another race of ours. We have to take the positive out of this weekend that if we don’t make mistakes and get the right qualifying we can be right in front, and that has to be our target again for the next race.” - Monisha Kaltenborn

Well, Forget about Saturday qualifying where Sauber stole the show, Even just after the warmup lap, Kobayashi’s car had some attention with some worried people in the paddock because of the smoke coming from his brakes. Although he finished the race, It’s a bit strange to see it happen. Williams were the other team who had similar issues in qualifying as well as in the race as seen sometimes with Senna. But many fans expressed their disappointment through various Social Networking Sites and one must wonder how the team as Sauber can come out of this huge disappointment, There is nothing they can do but with limited resources and facilities as compared to some of their rivals, it’s not often we see them have some major spotlight and if they could repeat the qualifying form again in the upcoming races, their morale would increase significantly and they might even take the fight to Mercedes but if they don’t come off with a solid performance again soon, it will be a hard run for this team. We all can debate that it’s part of a racing incident or we can say things like these would happen in racing but again one cannot really compensate for the huge loss.

“This is a terrible race result after we had been doing so well in qualifying. There was nothing I could do when a car came flying into mine after the start..” - Kobayashi

Kobayashi having been hit had come into the pits for repairs but again visited the pits for the slow puncture and it was later revealed that he had a lots of damage to his bodywork including damage to his side-pods while Perez had his race cut short in that opening lap itself.

“I am very disappointed for myself and the team as it was such a good opportunity for us to fight for a victory today.” - Sergio Perez

Vettel and Hulkenberg gained!

One of few drivers who escaped the first lap chaos thanks a poor start was Vettel, Having dropped to 12th, He drove an exciting race with a one stop strategy and proving it to be an ideal strategy as he and Button demonstrated while at the back, Pic was also labeled to be on a one stop strategy. Well, again, the most important thing is to note that Red Bull despite not being fastest in the straights, Vettel made some strong maneuvers across the non DRS zones as we can simply call it. DRS and the long straights although troubled the team, It was Vettel who came out strong and gained a lot and thus managing to finish in second place and thus reducing the gap to Alonso. “The start was poor; I think I was the only one not to gain positions through the first corners, so we had to fight our way back, which wasn’t easy, but I enjoyed it a lot.” - Vettel

Hulkenberg meanwhile finished on a strong fourth despite being in second place for quite some time. He later on admitted that he dreamt of being on the podium while also admitting that his result was only possible because other drivers crashed out of the race. Hulkenberg has made some bold realistic statements. It was true that the team gained a lot from the first lap incidents, Vijay Mallya although sounding high about his team’s prospects have to admit that his team has lost quite a bit of ground to their rivals and although this team had their high bit of fortune at this same venue in 2009, this year would have ended on a further bad note. With much of their focus now on 2013. It should be interesting to see if they can hold onto the seventh place in the constructors that they gained this weekend. It would have been even better result had Di Resta didn’t suffer a KERS failure before the start of the race which would have been crucial to the end result for once Di Resta was running in fourth and was trailing his teammate. But nevertheless, Hulkenberg’s race had a quite a bit of character and he showed what he can do provided he has the right circumstances but somehow he struggled to take on Schumacher’s Mercedes more then Kimi. As we look back at the race we have to admit that Hulkenberg could have been a bit more aggressive but maybe it was important for the team to score those valuable points.

“The start was eventful, but fortunately I avoided all the debris and was able to take advantage of the situation. I was up a high as second and for a while I was even thinking we could finish on the podium. But the race was tough; I had some great fights with Kimi and Michael, and I was always on the limit” - Nico Hulkenberg

Grosjean’s Apology!!

The Man who caused the collision and was more or less was responsible for the outcome of the race issued an apology to the drivers involved in the collision and also to their fans while admitting that the penalty on him would only do him good.

“When your life is all about racing, not being allowed to attend an event is probably one of the worst experiences you can go through. That said, I do respect the verdict of the Stewards. I got a good start - despite being disturbed by Pastor’s (Maldonado) early launch, which I think was the case for everybody at the front - and was heading into the first corner when the rear of my car made contact with the front of Lewis’s. I honestly thought I was ahead of him and there was enough room for both cars; I didn’t deliberately try to squeeze him or anything like that. This first corner situation obviously isn’t what anyone would want to happen and thankfully no-one was hurt in the incident. I wish to apologise to the drivers who were involved and to their fans. I can only say that today is part of a process that will make me a better driver." - Romain Grosjean

Was it a best possible result for Schumi on his 300th GP?

Err. Mercedes?

Before heading into the summer break or even at the start of the season, if there was one track the Mercedes team would like to have won or dominated the proceedings, it would have been Spa if not Monza. But then again, one have to ask how much can a team be dependent on a pre set strategy. According to the Mercedes camp, it seems the most ideal situation for them would be one stop. I don’t blame their strategy but was it worth taking the gamble after the safety car and first lap chaos? Schumacher likewise had a strong run and was even upto second on the grid as everyone went into the routine pitstops but with Mercedes not known to be kind enough to their tyres, it was a big ask for Schumacher as well add to the fact that he suffered a issues with his gearbox towards the end of the race didn’t do him any favor. Rosberg who missed the only dry practice session of the weekend also made a big jump from 23rd on the grid but with a car setup not quite suiting his style. There is nothing more he could do. We can simply state that Mercedes suffered with reliability issues backed by poor strategy but what exactly are they trying to achieve this season?

Schumacher escaped further embarrassment when he cut across Vettel into the final chicane as he dived into the pits but fortunately for him, there were no penalties issues with Red Bull clearing the situation by stating that Vettel was asked to do the opposite of what Schumacher does and this meant that although he was originally scheduled to the pits, Vettel had to abort his stop.

Marussias were racing:

“Not only was it great to be back racing here after the break, but it was great to be really ‘racing’ again after some very positive steps forward for the team. We are really taking the fight to the competition now and I enjoyed a great race today.” - Timo Glock

We are not sure when was the last time, Marussia were actually featured on Television footage, But with some improvements coming to their car this weekend. Both the Marussia drivers were seen fighting each other for the battle of 15th position which can be stated as the battle of pride. Glock who demonstrated the Team’s potential was catching the Caterham’s before Maldonado collided thus hurting Glock’s chances of the weekend. Much of the time was lost as Glock tried to recover from the crash but an unscheduled pitstop meant that he lost much of the time and he was forced to fight with teammate who was trying to limp back with a long one stop strategy. But nevertheless they made sure some kind of racing activity was going on up and down the field.

Caterham had a mixed fortunes which changed as the race progressed, Heikki Kovalainen made his way up the field and was fighting for positions after the safety car period, But then he had a odd spin into the final chicane which put him out of the reckoning for a solid finish, Things went into a bad state for him when he was released untimely during his pitstop which resulted in a front wing damage with an incoming HRT, Although he recovered, it was too late for him to register a solid finish. Vitaly Petrov meanwhile having made an early pistop managed to stay out of trouble and registered a 14th place finish

“At my first stop we had a problem with the release from the box and unfortunately I clipped the HRT as I was heading out, bringing me back in for a new front wing. From that point all I could do was try and get back in front of the cars ahead but I had another spin with a couple of laps to go. I still managed to pass one of the HRTs but with the issues we had today that was pretty much the end of my race” - Heikki Kovalainen

At the further end of the field, HRT would have had a decent finish had it not been for a loose nut in Narain’s car which resulted him in a big shunt, Although he seem to have hurt his foot, it is reported that he will continue to race in Monza. Otherwise though, HRT had a weekend which should be on their expected lines. Both Caterham and HRT would be pinning their hopes on their big update for Singapore which should redefine their positions

“Unfortunately, after Narain’s last pitstop, we had a problem and he had to retire when he was in the middle of a sensational race” - Luis Perez-Sala

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